'Going to Mankad someone': Buttler's Rajasthan Royals teammate sends out a fierce warning

Indian all-rounder Riyan Parag is the latest player to weigh in on the ongoing debate in cricketing world about whether or not running out at the non-end striker's for backing up is fair game. Parag took to his official Twitter handle to claim that he is going to 'mankad' someone next year, jokingly saying that it is going to create a fun debate on social media. Riyan Parag is also Jos Buttler's Rajasthan Royals teammate. It was in IPL 2019 when Buttler was mankaded by the then Kings XI Punjab captain Ravichandran Ashwin.

Interestingly, Parag made the remark on Twitter after a reporter at the T20 World Cup pre-tournament press conference had questioned the captains about whether they would be comfortable having one of their bowlers run out the non-striker for backing up too early ahead of the crease during the tournament. But surprisingly, none of the eight captains raised their hands following which the ICC media manager intervened and moved on to take other questions. 

"Im going to mankad/run out sm1 next year and it’s gonna create a fun twitter debate," Parag wrote in his tweet, which he shared a couple of hours ago. 

Aaron Finch's interesting take on 'mankading' 

Meanwhile, Australian skipper Aaron Finch said on Friday that mankads are 'fair game' if a bowler gives the batsman a warning for backing up too far before the ball is bowled. Finch was commenting on an incident that took place between Mitchell Starc and Jos Buttler during the third and final T20I between Australia and England. Starc was seen pointing out to the umpires that Jos Buttler was backing up too far ahead of the crease at the non-striker’s end.

"I think if guys get a warning, then it's fair game after that. That would go for most teams, I assume, if you give a batter a warning, because you think that they're gaining a little bit too much ground before the ball is bowled. But I'm not a big fan, personally," Finch had said after the Buttler-Starc incident following the third T20I between Australia and England. 

When Deepti Sharma retriggered 'mankading' debate

Since England's Charlotte Dean was run out at the non-striker's end by Indian women's team all-rounder Deepti Sharma for backing up too early, the 'Mankading' controversy has gained momentum throughout the cricketing world. The incident happened late last month at Lord's during the third and final ODI between India and England. Sharma decided to run out Dean at the non-striker's end to give India the one wicket they needed to win the game. 

Image: PTI/BCCI